How to Be the Branch Herald
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How to Be the Branch Herald by Lord Michael FitzGeoffrey, GdS, OLM Argent Scroll Herald Taught as a 90-minute class at the annual Kingdom Heraldic & Scribal Symposium Kingdom of An Tir October 11, anno societatis XLIX (being 2014 in the common reckoning) INTRODUCTION: For every barony in the SCA, the office of baronial herald is a requirement. Even for smaller groups, the vast majority have a herald as well. But just what is the duty of this officer-of-arms? This class discusses the role of a branch herald considering both the responsibilities and the opportunities that it carries. For purposes of discussion, this course will categorize the functions of a branch herald into three areas: administrative, ceremonial, and technical. Administrative responsibilities are those for which the branch herald is responsible because s/he is an officer of the branch, and are similar to the responsibilities of every other officer in the branch, but not necessarily the job of other heralds. The ceremonial roles of the branch herald are (to a greater or lesser extent) those tasks that set the herald’s office apart from other offices in the branch. When it comes right down to the fundamentals, ceremony is a great part what heraldry entails. This course will discuss what some of those roles are. Finally, for better or for worse, heralds are viewed as technical experts. As such, the branch herald needs to know (or to learn) some of the basics, at least, of book heraldry, and voice heraldry, as well as where to go for further expertise. This course give a high- level overview of these areas, with links provided in an appendix where you can get more detailed information. Before going on, while much of the information presented herein is useful at the principality, kingdom, inter-kingdom, and potentially Society levels, its scope is geared specifically to branch heralds of smaller groups, such as baronies, shires, cantons, and so forth. Furthermore, as this course is presented to an audience based in An Tir, it is customized accordingly. Finally, while the responsibilities outlined in this course apply to the branch herald, it is entirely acceptable for many of them to be actually performed by deputies, trainees, or heralds-at-large, but with the branch herald’s supervision. ADMINISTRATIVE: Reports A branch herald typically has two different sets of reports to make on a regular basis. As an officer of the branch, you will usually need to make a report at your branch’s business meeting. I am including a copy of a monthly report as Appendix A to give you an idea. Your report should include such information as: the current progress of any submissions from members of the branch or from the branch itself, awards bestowed in courts of the branch (and, where known, to members of the branch in any court), financial matters (purchases from the branch herald’s budget, acquisitions or disposals of property in the branch herald’s custody, etc.), changes in officer or deputy positions, news of interest to branch members from the heraldic community beyond the branch (such as changes in the submissions address, or heraldic job openings at the kingdom level), needs for heraldic assistance with upcoming events & acknowledgment of heraldic helpers at recent events opportunities for heraldic learning (upcoming online classes, symposia, universities, etc.) and any other heraldic information that you feel your branch could benefit from. Additionally, every calendar quarter you need to submit a report to the Demi-Lion Herald ([email protected]), or if your branch is in a principality, to the principality herald or designated deputy. A sample report is included as Appendix B. Besides sending your quarterly report to the appropriate senior herald, you should also send a courtesy/file copy to your branch seneschal, the baron & baroness (if you are a baronial herald or the branch herald of a canton, college, port, or stronghold within a barony), and to the baronial herald (if you are the branch herald of a canton, college, port, or stronghold within a barony). This report should follow prescribed forms, if such exist. Otherwise, please report the following: Names (SCA & modern) of heralds active in the branch, together with their official titles (including “herald-at-large”, etc.), their membership numbers and expiration dates, email addresses, and phone numbers (with their consent, of course), Heraldic services offered at branch events and meetings (including who was the herald-in-charge, who helped, how many consultations, etc.), Court reports from the branch throughout the calendar quarter, Consultations (get specific—what is being consulted on, who the clients are, who the consulting heralds are, etc.), Any concerns, questions, suggestions, or complaints that you wish to bring up to the senior heralds. To deviate for a moment from the duties of branch heralds specifically, please be aware that heralds-at-large, including Heralds Extraordinary, should ideally be sending in quarterly reports to communicate their heraldic activities up the chain. If they are not sending up these reports themselves (such as, perhaps, because they don’t consider themselves to be a “herald”, or they simply don’t like to do reports), please do your reasonable best to collect and report the information on their heraldic work. Why? Among other reasons, the Black Lion Principal Herald wants to know who is giving service worthy of award recommendations, and what heralds (official or otherwise) are active within An Tir. By knowing who is actively engaged in heraldic service, the kingdom (or principality) College of Heralds is better able to offer support and education, and discovers people that may be developing toward fulfilling offices within the College. Event Support As the branch herald, you are responsible for ensuring that resources are available for meeting the heraldic needs of events, demos, and even meetings of your branch. This typically makes you the default Herald-in-Charge (HIC), unless other arrangements have been made. Even if you won’t be HIC at the event, as branch herald, you still need to be aware of the heraldic activities needed by the event and who is performing them. Depending on the size and purpose of the event, this could include: Running & staffing a consultation table Court heraldry Processional/Presentations/Challenges Field heraldry Town Cry Messenger/Courier Services Protocol/Etiquette If you are the Herald-in-Charge, please prepare to take care of the heralds and trainees working with you, by furnishing bottled water, sore throat lozenges, a shaded herald’s point, sunscreen, etc. (as appropriate). As HIC or as the heraldic officer of the sponsoring branch, people may bring you announcements that they wish to have the heralds make either as a town cry or during court. You will need to ensure that these are handled in an appropriately professional and orderly manner for several reasons. This helps carry out the will of the presiding nobles, save wear-and-tear on your heralds, and ensure the right people get the right messages at the right time. Even if someone comes to you with an “emergency”, you need to consider whether it is best to announce it as a town cry, send a messenger to the chirurgeon or event steward, or to seek higher permission before allowing it to go out. Official messages should not be inappropriately offensive, intrusive, silly, or controversial. Best practices for organizing town cry include: Have an established point for the conduct of heraldic business (“herald’s point”). At a smaller event, this could be near gate, near the lists field, at your personal encampment, by a particular structure or landmark, etc. Have a pre-determined schedule of when town cries will go out, with deadlines ahead of them for accepting announcements, Come to an understanding with the event steward before the event on what you can expect from the event staff and what they can expect from you. Bring needed materials (such as notepads, 3×5 cards, pencils, bottled water, tabards/baldrics, wastebasket, tables, chairs, etc.) Deputies As the heraldic officer for your branch, you may have one or more deputies. Even if not, you should work to prepare someone to eventually succeed you when you are ready to resign from office. Deputies are a great resource. You can have: general deputies – deputies whose particular roles are across-the-board a contingency deputy – someone who steps into your office automatically if you should leave office unexpectedly. Often your contingency deputy will perform the tasks of your office any time you are unavailable to do so. specific deputies – If you are a book herald, and don’t do voice heraldry, you might have a voice deputy, for example. other lesser officers of the branch – For instance, perhaps in your branch the scribe may be under the administration of the branch herald, and may run any budgetary and reporting functions through your office. Training Since heraldry is a technical field, you are encouraged to share your heraldic expertise with the branch from time to time. This can take the form of newsletter articles, occasional email broadcasts of interesting heraldic tidbits, classes at branch events or other gatherings. Also, you don’t have to do it all yourself. You can arrange for others to bring heraldic education to your populace or deputies/trainees, as well. You can get a small group together and hold commentary meetings on submissions currently before the College of Heralds. You can participate in (or even host) online or virtual heraldic training sessions. (Check out http://elmet.eastkingdom.org/.) Financial Matters & Custody of Branch Property As the branch herald, one of the duties you will likely face is that of requesting an annual budget from your branch.